


Not Good At Being Alone

by Faster_Than_the_Speed_of_Sound



Series: A New Dawn [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha Castiel/Omega Dean Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angel Wings, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dean Winchester Has Abandonment Issues, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Loneliness, M/M, Oh My God, Omega Dean, Soft Castiel (Supernatural), Soft Dean Winchester, Sweet Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sweet Dean Winchester, Timestamp, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:27:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faster_Than_the_Speed_of_Sound/pseuds/Faster_Than_the_Speed_of_Sound
Summary: Castiel leaves for a work trip to the capital, and Dean. . . Dean realizes that he's not very good at being alone.(This is a timestamp for the New Dawn series. It's incredibly fluffy, but you should probably read Not Your Fault first so you aren't lost.)
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: A New Dawn [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716367
Comments: 26
Kudos: 151





	Not Good At Being Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooo! ;)
> 
> It's been a while since I've written for this series! I'm currently working on The Arena, but I should be done with that fic soon. I just couldn't leave this one alone, and I know some of you have been asking me to continue writing for it.
> 
> I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting such an amazing reception on it, but I appreciate all of you and I hope to write more for this series soon! Enjoy this little snippet of Dean and Castiel's life after the events of Not Your Fault. ;)

Dean Winchester woke up slowly, with the distinct impression that he was suffocating.

He realized the reason for that as he blinked open his eyes, groaning softly.

His mate and Alpha, Castiel Novak, was fast asleep. Sometime in the night, the Alpha angel had managed to roll over onto his stomach, half of his body resting on top of Dean and effectively crushing the Omega’s body into the soft mound of mattress and pillows beneath them both. He was snoring softly, dark hair a wild mess on his head, cerulean blue eyes shut peacefully.

Dean grunted, sucking in a desperate gasp of air. His Alpha was heavy.

The Omega debated for a full ten minutes on whether or not to move and risk waking the angel, or to just stay and slowly suffocate.

His decision was made for him when Castiel rolled even farther on top of him, wings splaying out and blanketing them both in a ridiculously heavy layer of feathers and heat.

“Castiel,” Dean grunted, poking the angel in the shoulder. “Alpha. I’m dying!”

Castiel grumbled something about five more minutes and gripped Dean even tighter, using him like his own personal teddy bear. Dean rolled his eyes. His Alpha would never admit it, but he was a clingy bastard at the best of times.

“Alpha,” Dean groaned, shoving a little at Castiel’s body. “I can’t breathe.”

That finally seemed to garner a reaction from the sleeping angel. He grumbled and blinked sleepy blue eyes open, blinking blearily down at Dean.

“Omega?”

God, his voice was unbelievably deep and raspy in the morning. Dean shifted a little, uncomfortable. His heat had ended only a week ago, but that didn’t effect his ability to be aroused by his Alpha’s morning voice.

“Good morning, Alpha. You’re squishing me,” he informed Castiel.

Castiel blinked again, still sleepy and unable to process things very easily, before his blue eyes widened comically and he flipped over, finally allowing Dean space to breathe. The Omega gasped dramatically, flopping onto his Alpha with a ridiculous look on his face.

Castiel snorted, wrapping his arms around his Omega. “My apologies, sweetheart. Feel free to push me off the next time.”

Dean nodded, agreeing, even though they both knew that he wouldn’t. As comfortable as Dean had gotten with Castiel, he was still tentative at the best of times when it came to truly being himself. A life of slavery couldn’t be wiped away overnight, although Castiel was trying his best.

“What time is it?” Castiel yawned, stretching lazily. Dean burrowed his face into the soft skin of his Alpha’s shoulder, closing his eyes in contentment. 

“Somewhere around ten in the morning,” he replied.

At the Omega’s words, both of their eyes flew wide.

“Shit,” Castiel cursed, flinging himself up and out of the nest and dislodging his Omega near-violently as he went. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What time did you have to be at the base?” Dean asked, wincing.

“Seven,” Castiel replied, searching wildly for the pants to his uniform. Dean clambered out of bed and helped him dress, handing him various parts of his uniform as the Alpha struggled to pull them on.

“What were you needed for?” Dean asked, helping Castiel turn his backward shirt around and folding the collar simultaneously.

“A meeting. Fuck, it was a very important meeting. Oh, shit,” Castiel cursed. He sat heavily on the floor and began to yank on his boots, fingers flying across the laces.

Dean left the room and hurried downstairs, knowing his Alpha was minutes away from flying to the base. As an angel, he could do that. 

Dean flung open the doors of the refrigerator and grabbed a few hardboiled eggs. He grabbed a banana from the counter and hurried back upstairs, hoping that Castiel was still in their bedroom and struggling with some piece of clothing or other. His Alpha had to eat breakfast. He had to do a lot of things actually, including brushing his teeth and his hair, but breakfast was more important.

Dean nearly tripped over the final step in his haste to get back to the bedroom, food held tightly in his hands.

He made it into the room just as the flap of wings sounded. Castiel was gone.

Dean ended up eating the food he’d initially brought for his Alpha’s breakfast. He wasn’t very hungry, feeling guilty that he’d made Alpha stay in bed for so long and had forgotten to set the alarm the night before. But he knew Castiel would have wanted him to eat, so he did.

The Alpha came back late that night, flustered and irritated. Dean sensed his mood and stayed mostly out of the way, instead cleaning the dishes and then the entire kitchen. Castiel called it ‘stress-cleaning’, which Dean found ridiculous, but it did sort of make sense. Dean always cleaned when he was worried.

Instead of going to bed on time that night, Castiel went into his office and began a series of important calls, most likely with his superiors. Dean stayed up as long as he could before he eventually passed out on the couch. He roused himself somewhere around midnight and went to bed.

The next morning, Castiel was gone. He’d left before Dean had even woken.

Feeling strangely sad, Dean went downstairs. He decided against breakfast and instead cleaned the entire house. When he finished around midday, Dean took a nap.

He woke up in time to serve dinner, which he ended up leaving warmed in the oven because Castiel was working. Again.

The next day was much the same, except this time there was less cleaning to do. Dean moped around the clean house, wondering what had gotten Castiel so caught up in work. His Alpha was a general in the angel military, but he was thinking of retiring soon and hadn’t been so absent since the time terrorists had managed to blow up two boats across the ocean and he’d been needed at the capital.

Maybe something had happened again, except last time Castiel had had enough time to stop and explain things to Dean. This time, they barely exchanged more than a word or two a night.

That was fine. The Alpha had more important things to work on.

Unfortunately, Dean wasn’t very good at being on his own. Aside from dinner, he didn’t eat much during the day, and that was only because he knew his Alpha had to eat too. Dean cleaned nearly obsessively, going over several areas of the house many times, sometimes in a single day.

He remembered the time Castiel had sat him down and invited him to watch a movie with him. Dean knew, of course, that he could watch TV any time, but it didn’t feel right without his Alpha by his side, arm and wing draped over him protectively.

The whole house felt wrong without Castiel. Empty.

Dean knew he was being ridiculous, acting like a weepy-eyed, whining Omega. He was Dean Winchester, and he’d been through shit that was _way_ worse than being away from his Alpha for a few days.

Right?

Dean nodded, as if physically moving would convince his whining inner Omega. He was going to be fine.

The young man sighed as he looked around the ridiculously messy kitchen, courtesy of the equally ridiculously complicated dinner that he was probably going to eat half of and throw the rest in a warmer in the oven.

Dean lost himself in the intricacies of cooking whatever dish he had found online and ignored the feeling in his chest when he glanced at the clock and recognized that Castiel should have been home hours ago.

Dean sighed and finished the dinner with a half-hearted flourish, spreading the greens artfully around the plate. He frowned, wishing Castiel was there to see it.

Dean grabbed a knife to cut the dinner in half so he could have some, then decided against it. He wasn’t really hungry, but he figured that Castiel would be if he’d been working all day. 

Dean put the knife away and shoved the whole thing into the oven to keep warm, then cleaned up the kitchen. When he’d finished, he dragged himself up the stairs and curled dejectedly into the bed, trying to keep his scent from smelling too sad. He didn’t want Castiel to scent him and be worried.

Dean closed his eyes, resolving to wake up sometime early in the morning so he could at least see Castiel before he left.

Feeling a little better, the Omega drifted off to sleep.

Dean woke up at dawn to find a note on Castiel’s pillow.

He picked it up, heart sinking as he read the neat handwriting.

_Dean,_

_I’m going to be traveling to the capital for a few days. There has been a new opportunity to negotiate an alliance with an important country, and I will be required to stay overnight for a few days. It won’t be long, but I wanted to tell you so you wouldn’t continue to make dinners for someone who won’t be there to eat them._

_Stay safe, take care of yourself. I’ll ask Lucifer to stop by a few times to check how things are going. If you feel like you want to talk, you can call my number. It’s below._

_I’ll see you soon._

_~Castiel_

Dean frowned at the letter, his whole mood darkening. He wanted to tell Dean so he wouldn’t keep making dinner for him? What about in case the Omega wanted to know why he was gone?

_It’s not like I’ve seen him at all lately_ , Dean thought sadly, trying to remember the last time he’d actually said more than a passing word to the Alpha. That would have to have been the morning all this started, when Dean woke up with Castiel sleeping on top of him.

The Omega wished briefly that he could go back to that time, when he had been warm and comfortable and surrounded by his Alpha instead of cold and lonely. Sure, he hadn’t been able to breathe easily, but Dean would gladly take that over this empty nest.

Those thoughts were immediately taken over by a feeling of guilt. How selfish was he? Castiel was negotiating an alliance with another _country_ , and here he was whining because he couldn’t get enough cuddles.

Ridiculous.

_Pathetic_ , a voice whispered, and Dean shivered. He hadn’t heard Alastair’s voice in a long time.

Suddenly feeling cold, Dean left the nest and the note and headed downstairs, hoping to find at least some evidence that the Alpha had been there last night. But no. The oven was still on, the dinner untouched, the green garnish he’d sprinkled on top wilted in the heat.

Dean gritted his teeth, suddenly incredibly frustrated, and slammed the dish onto the stove angrily. 

Something cracked, and Dean winced, a bolt of fear shooting through him.

He pulled his hands slowly from the plate, watching as it fell apart, the dinner falling with a soft plop to the stovetop.

The Omega closed his eyes for a moment, brought back to a different day, in this same kitchen. A day when he’d dropped a pitcher instead and had fallen to his knees, begging Castiel for forgiveness and mercy.

How different was it, really? He was alone in an empty house doing chores for an Alpha who didn’t care about him.

_Whoa. Where did that come from?_

_Alpha cares about you. He’s just caught up in work, that’s all._

Dean swallowed his uneasiness and cleaned the mess quickly, feeling immensely guilty. He made up for it by cleaning the entire house before noon, feeling slightly dizzy by the end of it.

Dean moped around for the rest of the day, wondering when, exactly, Castiel would be home. He’d said a few days, and negotiating with another country sounded complicated. . .

A few days turned into two weeks.

Lucifer checked in, as Castiel promised. Dean made sure he seemed happy and content every time, knowing it wouldn’t do to have his Alpha worried right now. He had enough to focus on without a needy Omega at home. 

It became increasingly harder, however, as the days went on. Dean asked Lucifer each time when Castiel was coming home, but the blond archangel always shrugged apologetically, saying he didn’t know.

Dean couldn’t sleep most nights, dreams of Alastair taking him away causing him to wake screaming and then stay huddled in a ball on Castiel’s side of the nest for the rest of the night, trembling and clutching the angel’s pillow.

Castiel’s scent wore off at about day fifteen. Dean received no more notes. His angel hadn’t returned since he’d left the first one.

The Omega ate and drank water less and less, only doing so when he felt too dizzy to finish whatever household chores he could think of. He even tried weeding the garden on a memorable occasion and nearly fell into the lake in his attempt to reach some weeds between the slats of the dock. _That_ had been terrifying, as Dean didn’t know how to swim.

He stayed far away from the lake after that.

Dean trained when he wasn’t moping around or frantically cleaning. He trained until he was sweating and gasping, until his muscles ached and he couldn’t make it back up the stairs without having to sit and rest for a few minutes.

The entire time, Dean hoped to hear Castiel’s rumbling voice calling his name, to catch a breath of his honey and thunderstorm scent drifting on the air.

Nothing.

The Omega was left alone for nearly three weeks, sad and confused, trying to fend off the whispers of his previous Alpha that threatened to take over again. He wasn’t very good at being alone, as he’d realized before, and he neglected to take care of himself so much that he toppled down the stairs one morning and didn’t wake up until that afternoon with a pounding headache and a badly sprained wrist.

He iced it for a few minutes and then went about his activities again. It was nothing, really.

Nothing at all.

Castiel clenched his fists under the table, trying not to let his impatience bleed into his scent.

He’d been in this damned building for three weeks, excluding the occasional ‘lunch dates’ with important representatives. Their meeting here had been a disaster from the start when they’d failed to bring the required translators and some more had had to be brought in from a nearby base. The negotiations were painfully slow and meticulous, but after three long weeks of planning, it looked as if they were coming to a close.

If only, of course, the king of the foreign nation would sign his Father-damned name on the fucking document.

Castiel tried not to let his impatience show as he watched the old man slowly pick up a feathered quill, signing his name with tortoise-like speed. He checked it over once more when he was done, withered lips moving soundlessly as he processed what had been written.

When he was finally finished, he smiled and passed the paper slowly to Zachariah, who signed it, then passed it to Castiel. The Alpha angel signed as quickly as he could, eager to be out of the meeting so he could pick up his bag from his rooms and go back to his home. To his Dean. He hadn’t even had time to sit down and write a note to the Omega, and he hoped that Lucifer had been keeping him company.

The meeting wrapped up as sluggishly as the entire thing had been going, ending at roughly noon when really, it could have taken little less than an hour.

Saying his goodbyes as quickly as he could while still being respectful, Castiel left the room with a whoosh of exhaled relief. Time to go home.

He hurried back to his room and picked up his bag, closing his eyes and opening his wings. In a flash, he was standing on the front walk of his home near the lake, halfway across the country and blissfully far from the capital.

The second he unlocked the door and entered the house, he knew something was wrong.

The entire house smelled like cleaner and bleach. Underneath that was the unmistakable scent of sad Omega.

Cursing softly, Castiel set his bag down by the door and closed it behind him, mind running wildly. 

He should have known. He should have fucking known that Dean would have a hard time by himself. Hell, _he_ had had a hard time without the Omega!

The Alpha hurriedly ran through a list of all the places Dean would be hiding. He couldn’t really settle on one, so he resolved to go check them all.

Castiel started in the kitchen and winced, seeing that the latest activity had been a thorough scrubbing of all surfaces and nothing else. No evidence of Dean eating. Shit.

Turning and heading up the stairs, Castiel breathed in the air deeply. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of cleaner and sad Omega, searching for the source.

It was thicker on the top floor, so Castiel narrowed down his choices.

Dean was either hiding underneath the bathroom sink, where he went when he couldn’t distinguish between Castiel and Alastair, or in the nest, where he went when he was feeling lonely or sad.

Castiel checked both places and frowned worriedly when he couldn’t find Dean in either. He checked the whole upstairs and found his Omega laying on the floor in the guest room, a bottle of cleaner still in his hands.

Growling aggressively, Castiel entered the room and immediately scented the room for any threats. When he could find none, he crouched down beside his Omega and scented him.

Thankfully, the sweet-sour scent of Dean’s blood wasn’t present, but from the paleness of his skin and the way his eyes looked a little sunken in, Castiel could guess that the kitchen hadn’t been used for food for a good while.

Sighing, he scooped his Omega into his arms and carried him back to their nest.

Castiel nosed at his throat worriedly when they got to the bedroom, guilt saturating his scent. He should have at least made an excuse to come home. He never should have stayed away for so long in the first place.

“Cas?” a quiet voice asked as the angel sat down on the edge of their nest, positioning Dean so he was sitting sideways on his lap.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” Castiel asked quietly, smiling sadly at his Omega.

“Cas, what-where-?”

“Shh, you’re alright. I came home and found you on the floor in the guest bedroom,” Castiel replied.

Dean’s face crumpled. “Oh, God. I’m sorry, Cas,” he said miserably, burying his face in the Alpha’s neck. Castiel could feel his trembling, could scent the faint breath of fear in the air. He was afraid Castiel would be mad.

The angel sighed and took Dean’s face into his hands, kissing him gently on the forehead. “Shh, it wasn’t your fault. We’ll talk about this later, alright? Right now, we need to get some food and water into you.”

Dean’s green eyes widened and he made to scramble off Castiel’s lap. “You’re right, you’re probably hungry, God I’m so stupid, I-“

“Dean, stay,” Castiel growled, his voice bordering on Alpha Voice. The Omega whined softly and obeyed, freezing in his position halfway off the Alpha’s lap. “You’re going to stay here. I’m going to go get some food from the kitchen and I’m going to come back up here.” Dean whined again, softer and sadder this time. The angel frowned. “What?”

“You’re gonna leave again?” Dean asked, quietly.

Castiel’s heart tore in two and he kissed his Omega’s forehead gently. “You can come with me, but I’m going to carry you.”

“I can walk downstairs myself,” Dean grumbled, frowning.

“Says the person who passed out a few minutes ago.”

“I didn’t m-“

“I carry you or you stay here. Choose,” Castiel ordered.

His Omega pouted for a few more seconds before he raised his arms, allowing his Alpha to scoop him up and carry him from the room. Dean giggled a little as Castiel planted loud kisses on his face.

They paused at the top of the stairs. Castiel sighed in the silence and pressed his forehead to Dean’s, eyes closed. “I’m sorry I left for so long,” he said quietly.

“It’s okay,” Dean whispered back. “Just don’t do it again.”

Castiel laughed, eyes opening and staring lovingly into his Omega’s green ones. “I won’t. Next time you can come with me.”

“Really? Me?” Dean asked, all lingering sadness disappearing as Castiel carried him downstairs and set him down on a chair.

“Really. My coworkers would love to meet the Omega who managed to take down Alastair Prince.”

Dean flushed in embarrassment and tucked his face into Castiel’s shoulder. “I had help.”

“Doesn’t change anything, sweetheart,” Castiel replied, pouring a glass of water and a glass of juice and setting them both down in front of his Omega. “Drink.”

Dean did so obediently as Castiel started to prepare some food. He looked better when the Alpha turned around, his face gaining some more color and his eyes shining brighter than before.

“When do you have to go back to work?” Dean asked, voice tentative as if he was afraid of the answer.

“Not anytime soon. We finished the negotiations and signed the contract,” Castiel replied, setting a plate of food down in front of Dean. His Omega ate hungrily. Castiel’s inner Alpha purred in contentment at the fact that he’d fed his mate, taken care of him.

That was, of course, until he spotted Dean’s wrist.

“Dean, what’s this?” he demanded, grabbing the offending limb. Dean couldn’t suppress his wince of pain as the angel grabbed his sprained wrist.

“I, uh, fell.”

“You fell.”

“Yes.”

“From where?”

“The. . . The top of the stairs.”

“ _What?_ ” Castiel demanded loudly. Dean winced, curling in on himself a little. Castiel lowered his wings, which had raised aggressively, and forced himself to rein in his anger. “When? _How?_ ”

“I just got dizzy, Alpha. It happened a few days ago,” Dean explained, sliding off the chair and pressing himself to Castiel’s side. It placated the Alpha, which was good at least.

Still, he wasn’t satisfied. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“You were busy with _important things_ ,” Dean scoffed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Castiel growled, wrapping his wings tight around Dean and pulling him flush to his body. 

“There is _nothing_ more important than you,” he rasped, voice low.

Dean swallowed loudly, eyes darkening. “Wanna show me how important I am to you, Alpha?” he asked suggestively.

Castiel kissed him passionately, then forced himself to pull away with a sigh. “As much as I’d love to, I’m not knotting you until you’ve rested.”

“You can just heal my wrist-“

“I already have,” Castiel replied, kissing his Omega again, gentler this time. “ And your concussion. But I’m not taking any chances. You’re still underfed.”

“You could-“

“No,” Castiel said with finality. “I’m going to feed you, and then we’re going to cuddle, and then we’ll eat crappy pizza and pie for dinner.”

Dean sighed. “Fine. I can’t argue with pie, Alpha. Or you.”

He was leaning most of his weight against the angel, and the dark-haired Alpha knew his Omega was tired. He picked him up easily, despite the indignant squawk it earned him.

As they walked to the living room, Castiel kissed his Omega slowly. “Anything else you need to tell me?” he asked once they’d plopped down on the couch.

Dean snorted, wrapping his arms around Castiel’s neck. “Not really.” He thought for a moment. “Actually, there is one thing. Oh, wait. Two. I broke a plate. And you might need to clean the dock yourself. I tried, and I almost fell in.”

Castiel frowned. “The plate is fine, but can’t you swim?” 

Dean flushed in embarrassment. “No. Never really had time to learn when I was running around with Dad and Sammy,” he replied.

Castiel frowned, thinking. They’d researched Dean’s family a few months ago and had found out that John had been dead for a little over a year, Sam at Stanford for the past three. Dean had insisted on calling his brother another day, saying that he didn’t want to bother him while he was at school. Castiel had guessed how uncomfortable the green-eyed Omega was and had dropped the subject.

But he’d never really thought deeply on Dean’s life before Alastair and slavery. Was it really so crazy to believe that he couldn’t swim?

“Well, there’s only one way to fix that,” Castiel replied, smiling at his Omega. Dean, sleepy now, yawned.

“What’s that?” he asked tiredly. All those nights of bad sleep were catching up, and he was ready to get some real rest now that his Alpha was back.

“I can teach you to swim,” Castiel offered.

Dean made a face. “You can get your wings wet?”

Castiel snorted. “We’ve had enough shower sex for you to know that, Dean,” he replied.

Dean flushed with embarrassment. “Right.”

Castiel laughed and nuzzled his nose into his Omega’s neck, scenting him and relishing the closeness of his mate. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Dean yawned. “Sleep now.”

Castiel laughed again and nodded, nosing at the soft skin of Dean’s throat. He closed his eyes, breathing in the safety and comfort of satisfied mate, glad that it was overpowering the scent of cleaner and sad Omega.

He vowed to do his best to make sure Dean was never sad like that again, whether that meant finally retiring like he’d been thinking of or not.

He leaned back, relishing the closeness of Dean, and resolved to think that over later. For now, he would enjoy the contentment of being near his mate.

Alpha and Omega drifted off to sleep curled around each other, breathing softly in the silence.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it didn't seem too out of place. Again, it's been a while since I've written for this series.
> 
> I take ideas and run with them, so if you have a prompt you want me to write for this series, I'm totally open! There is an 80% chance I'll end up acting on the idea. ;)
> 
> Thanks so much for being so amazing! See you all soon!


End file.
